Biography 1090 words

Macedonian pianist Simon Trpčeski has established himself as one of the most remarkable musicians to have emerged in recent years, performing with many of the world’s greatest orchestras and captivating audiences worldwide. Mr. Trpčeski is praised not only for his impeccable technique and delicate expression, but also for his warm personality and commitment to strengthening Macedonia’s cultural image.
Mr. Trpčeski has appeared with many of the world’s finest orchestras. He is a frequent soloist with the London Symphony and City of Birmingham Symphony orchestras, the Philharmonia and Halle orchestras, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the London Philharmonic orchestras. Other engagements with major European ensembles include the Royal Concertgebouw, Russian National and Bolshoi Theatre orchestras, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, DSO and RSO Berlin, WDR Cologne, MDR Leipzig, Tonkünstler Orchestra in Vienna, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the Rotterdam, Strasbourg, Royal Stockholm, Helsinki, Oslo, Royal Flanders and St. Petersburg philharmonic orchestras. In North America he has performed with the New York and Los Angeles philharmonic orchestras, The Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras and the symphony orchestras of Boston, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Toronto and Baltimore, among others.

Macedonian pianist Simon Trpčeski has established himself as one of the most remarkable musicians to have emerged in recent years, performing with many of the world’s greatest orchestras and captivating audiences worldwide. Mr. Trpčeski is praised not only for his impeccable technique and delicate expression, but also for his warm personality and commitment to strengthening Macedonia’s cultural image.

Mr. Trpčeski has appeared with many of the world’s finest orchestras. He is a frequent soloist with the London Symphony and City of Birmingham Symphony orchestras, the Philharmonia and Halle orchestras, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the London Philharmonic orchestras. Other engagements with major European ensembles include the Royal Concertgebouw, Russian National and Bolshoi Theatre orchestras, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, DSO and RSO Berlin, WDR Cologne, MDR Leipzig, Tonkünstler Orchestra in Vienna, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the Rotterdam, Strasbourg, Royal Stockholm, Helsinki, Oslo, Royal Flanders and St. Petersburg philharmonic orchestras. In North America he has performed with the New York and Los Angeles philharmonic orchestras, The Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras and the symphony orchestras of Boston, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Toronto and Baltimore, among others. Elsewhere he has performed with the New Japan, Seoul and Hong Kong Philharmonic, Sydney and Melbourne symphony orchestras, and has toured with the New Zealand Symphony. Mr. Trpčeski has worked with a prominent list of conductors including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Lionel Bringuier, Andrew Davis, Gustavo Dudamel, Charles Dutoit, Vladimir Jurowski, Lorin Maazel, Antonio Pappano, Vasily Petrenko, Robin Ticciati, Yan Pascal Tortelier, David Zinman, Marin Alsop and Gianandrea Noseda.

The 2014/15 season sees Mr. Trpceski continuing to perform at the highest level around the world. As always, he makes regular to visits London, giving performances with the London Symphony and Philharmonia orchestras, as well as performing chamber music at the Wigmore Hall. Elsewhere, he returns to play with the orchestras of Los Angeles Philharmonic, Seattle, Baltimore and St. Louis symphonies, Minnesota Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, RSO Berlin and NDR Hamburg, Russian National Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Armenian Philharmonic, Barcelona and Galicia symphonies, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Teatro Regio in Turin, Ulster Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Suisse Romande Orchestra and Iceland Symphony. He also undertakes a tour of Australia and New Zealand with Vasily Petrenko.

A superb recitalist, Simon Trpčeski has given solo performances in such cultural capitals as New York, San Francisco, Washington D.C., London, Paris, Amsterdam, Milan, Munich, Prague, Hamburg, Bilbao, Istanbul, Dublin and Tokyo. Simon has received widespread acclaim for his recital recordings on the EMI label. His first recording, released in 2002, featured works by Tchaikovsky, Scriabin, Stravinsky and Prokofiev, and received both the “Editor’s Choice” and “Debut Album” awards at the Gramophone Awards. His 2005 Rachmaninoff and 2007 Chopin discs both received extensive praise from critics. In 2008 he released an all-Debussy disc entitled Debussy: Images, which was equally applauded. Most recently Simon’s March 2012 recital at the Wigmore Hall was released on the “Wigmore Hall Live” label, and was immediately hailed by The Telegraph as “Classical CD of the Week”. His July 2014 recital at the Wigmore Hall will also be released on the “Wigmore Hall Live” label.

2010 saw Mr. Trpčeski’s concerto recording debut on the Avie label, showcasing Rachmaninov’s notoriously challenging Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 3 with Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. The album was awarded the Diapason d’Or de l’année and Classic FM’s “Editor’s Choice”. In 2011 the Avie label released the second concerto album from Trpčeski, Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra; the completion of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerti, Nos. 1 and 4 alongside Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. The second disc has been recognized with Classic FM, Gramophone “Editor’s Choice” and Diapason d’Or distinctions. His latest recording, a CD featuring Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 with Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, is to be released in autumn 2014 on the Onyx Classics label.

Simon also performs chamber music as often as he can, having performed at such festivals as Aspen, Verbier, Risor, Bergen and the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm. He has a regular duo partnership with cellist Daniel Müller-Schott, and enjoys performing with a variety of other soloists in duo performance. Recent chamber collaborations have included a North America Tour in April 2014 with Daniel Müller-Schott, with performances in Vancouver, Montreal and Washington D.C., and, amongst others, trio performances with Julia Fischer and Daniel Müller-Schott at the Wigmore Hall (March 2014) and Dresden Philharmonie (July 2014). In the 2014/15 season he will perform again with Daniel Müller-Schott at the Concertgebouw and Wigmore Hall in November 2014, as well as in Bilbao in May 2015. In summer 2011 Simon Trpčeski and cellist Nina Kotova preformed works by Chopin for a theatrical event based on the life of Frédéric Chopin featuring renowned actors Jeremy Irons and Sinead Cusack at the Tuscan Sun Festival in Cortona, Italy.

With the special support of KulturOp — Macedonia’s leading cultural and arts organization — and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Trpčeski works regularly with young musicians in Macedonia in order to cultivate the talent of the country’s next generation of artists.

Born in the Republic of Macedonia in 1979, Simon Trpčeski has won prizes in international piano competitions in the United Kingdom, Italy and the Czech Republic. From 2001 to 2003, he was a member of the BBC New Generation Scheme, and in May 2003, he was honored with the Young Artist Award by the Royal Philharmonic Society. In December 2009, the President of Macedonia H.E. Gjorge Ivanov honored him with the Presidential Order of Merit for Macedonia, a decoration given to foreign and domestic dignitaries responsible for the affirmation of Macedonia abroad. Most recently, in September 2011, Mr. Trpčeski was awarded the first-ever title "National Artist of the Republic of Macedonia".

Mr. Trpčeski is a graduate of the School of Music at the University of St. Cyril and St. Methodius in Skopje, where he studied with Professor Boris Romanov. Simon Trpčeski makes his home in Skopje with his family.

"Playing Rachmaninoff's widely beloved Piano Concerto No. 2, the artist fully lived up to the high expectations set by his Cleveland Orchestra debut at Blossom Music Center in 2009. As at Blossom, the pianist at Severance proved an artist of unique but highly alluring character. His performance stripped away much of the well-known work's typical gloss and thickness and instead cast it in a refreshingly bright, clear light. Yet it didn't lack feeling. Trpceski's account of the Adagio with clarinetist Daniel McKelway was spellbinding in the utmost, and where the composer waxes rhapsodic, the pianist poured forth impassioned streams."